


A Day in the Life of Steve Rogers

by captaincastle



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, POV Steve Rogers, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, Steve Rogers-centric, day to day life for steve rogers, steve rogers has a good day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 22:01:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11541297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captaincastle/pseuds/captaincastle
Summary: A short collection of works of what an average good day for Steve might look like.





	1. School Visit

Today was going to be a interesting day. It was career week at an Elementary School in Brooklyn, and Captain America was coming to speak to the kids. He knew it would be fun, but he had no idea the impact the kids would have on him. Especially one in particular. 

As soon as he walked in the kids cheered. They all knew who he was. 

Steve spoke for a few minutes telling them cool stories about beating up bad guys and aliens, but more importantly how to help people. He told them, it’s not just about punching someone, but you need to know when to extend your hand to help someone up. Of course most of them just wanted to hear about him saving the day, or about Thor and Iron Man. 

After he made his speech, the kids surrounded him as he knelt on the floor. He showed them his shield and answered any of their many questions. Yet he was surprised at how sincere some of them were. 

One boy asked about his friend Bucky. He had seen something about him in a museum. Steve smiled a sad smile and told the kid that he wished he could see his friend again - he wasn’t lying. He wish he could, but Bucky has become - something else. He didn’t tell this to the kid. 

Another kid asked if Steve could pick him up. Steve threw his head back and laughed. He flexed both of his arms, and a few of the kids grabbed on tight. Then Steve stood and he had four children dangling from his arms giggling. One kid had wrapped their arms around his neck and was on his back. 

He was laughing right along with them, but as he stood, he noticed there was a little girl still sitting at her desk. She was very focused on something. He wondered why she hadn’t come up with the other children.

Steve set the kids down and quietly asked the teacher about the girl. 

“Kate’s very shy. But she is the most excited to see you - she just is nervous is all.”

“Is it alright if I talk to her?”

“She would love it. I’ll take the kids out to recess, give you and her some space.” She paused and made an announcement to the class, “Alright kids, let’s thank Captain America for stopping by today! Tell him thank you!”

They all yelled a “thank you!”

“Alright kids, let’s go outside for recess.” She looked over at Steve, “I’ll take them out, and I’ll be back. Thanks again.”

He nodded and made his way over to the little girl. She didn’t seem to notice that the other kids had gone out to recess. As Steve got closer he could see that she was coloring. He walked over and knelt by her desk.

“Can I see what you are drawing Kate?” he asked softly, he didn’t want to startle her. Though he had a theory of what she was drawing. He saw red, white, and blue crayons on her desk. 

She looked up at him and smiled a small shy smile, and quickly looked back at her drawing.

“They’re for you.” She said quietly.

“For me?” He asked as he clicked the buckle on his cowl. He took off the cowl and set it on the desk. 

“Yeah.” 

“That reminds me..” He stood and walked over to the teacher’s desk.

As he walked the girl said, “Wait! Don’t..”

He grabbed a pencil and paper and walked back to her and sat on the floor next to her desk.

“I’m not leaving yet.” he replied, “Now I have a very important question to ask you. Do like puppies or kittens better? It’s a tough question I know.”

She furrowed her brows and thought for a moment. 

“Kitties.”

“Good answer.” She went back to her coloring, and he began to write something on his paper.

He was about to ask her a question, when he heard her giggling. He looked up to see that she had put his cowl on. It was far to big for her, and that’s what made her laugh. Steve laughed right along with her. 

“You wanna hold the shield?”

She nodded, which only made her laugh more as the cowl bounced around on her head as she moved. 

He grabbed his shield and handed it to her. It was bigger than she was. Her bright eyes popped over the edge, and Steve could tell she was smiling. 

After a few more moments Steve collected his shield, cowl, and the stack of drawings from Kate, and was in the process of thanking the teacher who had come back in. 

That was when he felt a tug on his leg. 

He looked down to see Kate’s big eyes looking back at him. Her hand was outstretched with a folded piece of paper in her hand.

“Mr America. You forget this one.” 

He knelt down to her level and smiled. “I didn’t forget. That one is for you. It was nice meeting you ma’am.” He said and shook her hand. “Thank you for the drawings.” 

Right as he was about to get up she hugged him. 

The teacher was practically in tears. So was Steve. He patted Kate’s back and stood. 

“Open it.” He whispered pointing at the paper. 

The gasp and the delight in her eyes was all needed. He turned and left knowing that that it’s what it’s all about. 

He could faintly hear the teacher ask Kate what it was, but he could hear Kate loudly say what it was. 

Steve had quickly drawn her a sketch of a kitten. 

“It’s a kitten!”


	2. Cereal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This actually inspired a short story I wrote, and I have hopes to make this story into a full length screen play for a film. But the idea came from this fic!

Steve woke up with a groan as his alarm went off. He hit the off button, but carefully…he’s broken clocks before from hitting it too hard. He rolled out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom to shower.

He caught his reflection in the bathroom mirror and chuckled. Blonde hair was going in multiple directions. His chest was flushed and had little red imprints left on his skin from his sheets from sleeping in the same spot.

After he had showered, he made his way to the kitchen only to realize he didn’t have anything to eat for breakfast. He stood in his kitchen clad only in a pair of sweatpants, a towel was draped around his shoulders and he was using one edge to rub his hair dry as he thought of what he needed to do about his current breakfast predicament. He was hungry.That super human high metabolism was kicking in. He had to go to the store, which for him is not as easy as it sounds. 

A t-shirt and a hat were thrown on..just to be safe. Kids always recognize him. But still, keeping a low profile is for the best….Though it’s hard for Steve to keep a low-profile when he’s not in any real danger. Yes, there’s potentially danger to be had, but it’s doubtful he’ll be in danger in the cereal aisle on a Tuesday morning at 7:30 am. Who does he have to be afraid of? Other people getting cereal?

He made his way to the little store near his apartment, and grabbed a cart from the front. Careful to not put too much of his weight on the handlebar, he leaned against it as he pushed the shopping cart.

As he made his way through the store he began to notice just how much Captain America merchandise there actually is. Then he wondered if anyone would notice if he grabbed the Captain America fruit snacks or pop-tarts or Doritos or the cereal which is what he came for.

Upon reaching the cereal aisle, there was a mother and her son arguing about something. From what Steve could pick up (as he stood in the cereal aisle reading the back of a cereal box - it had a maze on it he was tracing it out with his finger as he listened) the son wanted the cereal that had the toy in it, but the mom wanted him to get a different kind for some reason.

“You can’t just get the cereal just because it has a toy in it!” 

“But it’s a Captain America toy!”

Steve’s ears perked up. He had a lot of options. He could turn around and go to the next aisle, or he could say something, but before he could do anything, the boy accidentally bumped into Steve.

The kid, like they always do, recognized Steve.

“Mom! It’s Captain America!” 

“You can’t have the cereal, son.” The mom still thought her son was arguing about the cereal. Her back was turned as she was already leaving the aisle.

“Do what your mom says. Cap would do what his mom says.” Steve winked at the kid. 

The kid nodded proudly and walked away with his mom.

Steve looked around to make sure no one could see him, and when the coast was clear, he grabbed the Captain America cereal box.

“Might as well.” he shrugged. 

He set the cereal down in the cart with his other assorted Captain America food products. He did actually get real food but there was a lot of Cap merch.

He somehow managed to checkout. It was too early in the morning for anyone to care what he had in his shopping cart. And with success he left the store without turning anymore heads. Sure he turned some heads cuz his butt looked great in those sweatpants.

Finally when he got home, he set down all the stuff he bought on the table and ripped open the cereal box. Unfortunately his eagerness and strength betrayed him. The package was opened too quickly. Red, white, and blue marshmallows and cereal pieces flew across the room. A good portion landed in his bowl so he just shrugged and poured some milk.

Sitting at his kitchen table he ignored the mess he made for the time being and ate his Cap cereal. Then he remembered there was a toy in there somewhere. He’d heard it clatter when the box exploded. As soon as he finished eating he found it on the floor among the bits of cereal and marshmallows. His prize was a Captain America shield ring. It was almost too small for his large fingers, but he could just barely fit it on the tip of his pinky. He put it on and was pleased with himself.

“This is for you little guy.” he said aloud. He hoped that kid would get a Cap shield ring one of these days. 

Then he put the rest of his groceries away and began to sweep cereal off the floor. Examining the ring for a moment he wondered aloud, “I wonder if this would leave a good indent if I punched someone with this.” He shrugged and continued to sweep his kitchen floor.


	3. Coffee and Hope

There’s a little cafe down the street from his apartment and he gets a cup of hot chocolate to go almost every night. He likes to go in and grab it and head home to drink it while he reads or watches some movie he’s been recommended. 

It’s a family owned cafe and since Steve goes in there so much, he doesn’t even have to order anymore. He walks and and they start making his drink.

And the same thing happened tonight. He walked in and waved politely and the owner’s son smiled back and began making Steve’s hot chocolate.

He stood patiently in the small line. That was another reason he liked this cafe. Whenever he went at night, there was hardly anyone there. Tonight there was a college girl in front of him in line waiting, a woman with her nose in a book and earbuds in sitting down, a couple on a date, and a college age guy getting sugar for his coffee at the little bar near the front counter of the shop. And that was it. There was no one else there. Steve liked that.

Though Steve’s quiet evening was about to change.

The girl in front of him was handed her drink, but when she turned to leave, she turned too quickly and crashed into Steve’s chest, causing her to stumble. Her drink spilled on both of them and her glasses slipped off her nose and onto the floor. Steve caught her, and immediately asked if she was alright despite the fact that the drink that had just spilled on him was really hot. 

“I’m - I’m alright. But I dropped my glasses.” She was embarrassed greatly. Her face was turning pink.

“Hey hey it’s alright.” Steve said calmly, “I’ll get ‘em.” he said as he knelt to get her glasses. He wiped them off with his shirt and handed them to her.

That was when Steve heard the college age guy nearby snickering.

“Is there something funny to you?” Steve asked.

Before Steve could get a reply from the guy, he heard a gasp from the girl in front of him. He looked over to her to see that her face was hidden in her hands. From what he could see of her face it was bright red.

Steve had no clue what was going on.

“What’s wrong? I told you not to worry about it. This shirt can be wash-”

“I just spilled coffee on Captain America.” she said in a mortified voice.

The nearby guy’s snickers became a full out laugh. He was howling. Steve walked over to the guy and stood very close to him.

“Something funny?” Steve said coolly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Yeah…she uh…she’s in love with you. She won’t shut up about ‘Captain America.’”

“Why is that funny?” 

“Cuz she’s in love with you and she just spilled coffee all over you.” he said as his laughs got louder.

Steve grabbed the guy by the shirt and pulled him up to eye level.

“I’ve had all kinds of things like blood and alien slime gotten on me. And you think that coffee spilled on me from a nice girl is going to bother me? Huh? Leave her alone and get outta here.”

Steve set the guy down and he left quickly.

“He left without his coffee.” Steve said sarcasm lacing his voice. 

“I’m so sorry I got coffee on you.” the girl spoke up. Steve could tell she was still really embarrassed. Her face was still pretty red and she was avoiding his gaze. 

“It’s really alright.” He smiled at her. He walked back over to the counter to get his hot chocolate and asked if he could have another one. 

“You spilled your drink, so you might as well get another one. It’s on me.”

She groaned and put her face back in her hands.

“This is NOT how I wanted to meet you.”

“I wouldn’t say it was a bad way to meet someone.” 

“How can you say that I just spilled coffee all over you.” She said laughing.

“Like I said, not the worst thing I’ve gotten on me.”

“Thank you Cap.” 

“For the coffee? No trouble.” 

“No I mean for getting rid of that jerk. He bothers me all the time about…..you. And thank you for the hot chocolate. And not getting mad at me for spilling it.”

“There’d be no point in making you feel any worse. You’re welcome.”

“And thank you for what you do. And what you stand for and…thank you for being a light of hope. You’re my hero and I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time.” She said that last part quickly. 

“Well I’m glad I met you. I like hearing that I give people hope. It’s easy to forget ya know? It’s a good reminder. It means a lot.”

Her drink order was called out and she grabbed it and thanked Steve and was about to leave the cafe when Steve offered his arm to her.

“Let me walk you home.”

This girl had a crush on him, and there was no way he was going to let their meeting end on a bad note. He never said anything to make her feel awkward about being in love with him. That wasn’t what he was about. He simply wanted to make someone smile. She told him that she was grateful he stood for hope. Well hope doesn’t have to be saving the day. Hope can be that there are nice people in the world among not-so-nice people. If he is a beacon of hope he’s gotta live up to it right?

He walked her home and kissed her hand as he left. Making someone’s day always made him feel better. Being a hero takes a toll on him. But the little things like that that mean so much to others? That’s what’s important to him.


	4. Memorial Day

Memorial Day - An American Holiday that occurs on the last Monday of May to remember American men and women who died while serving their country 

-

It’s hard for Steve. Every year when Memorial Day rolls around. A mix of emotions hit him all at once it seems. 

Anger. Anger over all the loss. There was so much loss in WW2 and much to his sorrow, more wars happened while he was frozen. Which just meant more people died. 

Guilt. He feels guilty that he’s alive. He was ready to die to save lives. He didn’t want to die to be glorified. He just wanted to do what needed to be done. But guilt weighs on his shoulders because he got to live while others died. 

Pride. A touch of pride is among his emotions. He’s proud of his country. He’s not always proud. But overall, he’s proud of what his country stands for. Times have changed but he can’t help but still see the good. It’s there. Just not maybe as prominent as it was. 

Hope. His hope is that even though he felt that he should’ve died decades ago, he’s alive for a reason. Maybe he was meant to live. Maybe there’s something else he has to do. 

On this Memorial Day, he is unsure of what he is supposed to do. Should he stand in front of an audience and make a speech? He just wasn’t sure if he even needed to be seen at all. But yet it might make some people happy to see him.

But he doesn’t want to look selfish either. 

He considered volunteering to put flags on graves of soldiers, but he didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to himself. He just decided to go visit The WW2 Memorial in New York.

Families, friends, old war buddies, old widows, and children were all walking around the memorial. Steve’s eyes watched as there were sad faces, and happy ones upon seeing an old friend perhaps. He saw lots of tears and smiles. It was hard. The worst thing about it was the majority of people here didn’t even know the person they are mourning. They died in WW2. Sons and daughters comforted their widowed mothers, or grandmothers. Or they would comfort the fathers and grandfathers over the loss of their old friends and brothers. 

Steve felt guilty all over again. He knew some of these names on the walls. Right when he was looking for a name, he bumped into an older woman. He apologized profusely but she just smiled a sad smile. Her mind was elsewhere.

“My eyesight’s not like it used to be.” She was looking for a name. 

“Can I help you look?“

She told him the name, and the name wrung a bell. Steve knew him. 

“Ma'am do you remember Captain America?” He had a reason for asking her this and he hoped she’d understand. How else would he explain that he knew this man personally?

"Of course I do. Why are you asking if I remember you? Don’t think I don’t know who you are. I had a crush on you way back when. And a girl doesn’t forget crushes.“

Steve blushed a little.

"Well it didn’t hurt to ask.” He joked. “How did you know this man? I knew him pretty well. I could tell you some stories of you’d like.”

She gasped softly. 

“He was my brother. I visit him here every year. I miss him so much. I’d love to hear about it. It’s been so long.”

Steve led the woman to a nearby bench and began to tell her stories. And soon they just chatted about the old days. Talking to her helped Steve as much as it did her. 

An hour or so later a large group of people came up to their bench. 

“Mom we were worried sick where were you??”

“Probably in the safest place I could be. I’m just chatting with Steve Rogers. He knew my brother. Steve, this is my family.” Steve waved and he heard excited murmuring throughout the group.

He couldn’t help but smile at the large family. From the looks of it, this woman had had a great life. Yet she was here with other families to mourn their loved ones. 

It’s different if you’ve lost someone in war. If you haven’t, Memorial Day is more of just a day of cookouts and pool parties. Sure people pay respect, but it’s different if you’ve lost someone. 

Steve lost just about everyone he knew. It was a hard day for him. But getting to share some good memories was a good enough memorial for him.


	5. Frisbee

One thing about New York that Steve loves, is that even though it’s changed over the years, some things are still the same.

Central Park for example. It hasn’t changed that much over the years.

It was a part of his past life and it took him awhile before he got up the courage to go. It brought back too many memories.

But today he was ready. He just wanted to go and set on a bench and just relax. Maybe do some people-watching. Maybe read a book. He just wanted some quiet and not be alone. His apartment was quiet but empty. The park was peaceful but there was movement and chatter and things to see. Quieting his mind was something he was beginning to struggle with, so a nice day at the park was just what he needed.

He found a park bench, and pulled out his sketchbook. He hadn’t drawn in awhile and was hoping to pick it back up. He began to sketch people as the walked by. Just quick movement sketches. Time passed quickly and before he knew it an hour had gone by. Chuckling to himself he remembered that before the serum, he would have to take breaks from drawing because his hands would cramp up.

A dog barking brought him from his thoughts. A big golden retriever was standing right in front of Steve. A Frisbee was lying on the ground in-between them.

“Hi!” Steve said as he began to pat the dog on the head. He looked at the collar to see the dog’s name was ‘Honey’. 

“Hi Honey!” Steve laughed as she perked up upon hearing her name. “Where’s your owner?” He asked her as if she would respond, but she just nudged the Frisbee with her nose, closer to his feet. 

“You want me to throw it?” 

He threw the Frisbee as gently as he could. Seeing as how his shield is just a big Frisbee and is used to sometimes hurt bad guys and damage things, he didn’t want to hurt anyone here. Yet his strength betrayed him - but only a little. The Frisbee flew across the park, farther than any other human would be capable - unless maybe they were a professional Frisbee thrower.

Honey took off and bolted towards the Frisbee. As soon as she got it she ran back. She was so excited, she was out of breath when she got back to Steve.

But she wasn’t the only one coming to see Steve out of breath.

A man in his mid-twenties came running up to Steve.

“I’m sorry has she been bothering you? I think maybe she mistook you for me, because I turned around and she was gone.”

“She’s not bothering me at all. I love dogs.” 

“She won’t want to come back with me. Not when you can throw a Frisbee like that.” the man laughed. 

“I’ve had some practice.” 

“Well we’ll get out of your hair. Thanks for playing with her.”

As soon as the man walked away, Steve began to wonder if he should get a dog. His apartment wouldn’t be empty anymore. Maybe today he’d go to the animal shelter.


	6. Birthday Letters

In 1941 the 4th of July was just a holiday and Steve’s birthday.

But when he became Captain America - it became something totally different. Something that he didn’t really think about. Suddenly that day became ALL about him. America + his birthday and now he was Captain AMERICA?

Honestly he didn’t even think about it until the first July 4th rolled around. He mentioned it was his birthday and the Howling Commandos laughed and thought he was just making a good joke. It took them some actual convincing that it really was his birthday. Then of course they demanded to give him the best party America had ever seen.

Peggy always just thought of it as Steve’s birthday. She wasn’t American. Independence Day held no meaning for her. Secretly Steve loved that she saw it this way. It was overwhelming to him to have all this attention. He liked just the simple thing of it being his birthday. Not some giant holiday with red, white, and blue everywhere.

But it did remind him that maybe, just maybe he was meant to be the poster boy for America.

And that was intimidating to him in many ways.

70+ years later when he woke up, his birthday was not the first thing on his mind. He didn’t even think about it until he started seeing “Fourth of July Sales” signs in stores n late June. He chuckled to himself. He could only imagine the parties and celebrations that went on on the 4th.

He wondered if anyone even knew it was his birthday though. He didn’t demand a party. Just maybe someone remembering might be nice. 

He woke up on his birthday by hearing a knock at the door. Grabbing a t-shirt and throwing it on, he headed for the front door of his apartment.

There was a young woman in her early 20s standing there shyly, with an old cardboard box in her hands. 

“Steve Rogers?”

“Yes ma’am. Can I help you?”

“This is going to sounded really strange, but these are for you.” she handed him the box and he pried the lid open - to see a large pile of letters and drawings.

“My grandmother used to tell us stories about you, and how even though she was a little girl she was in love with you. She wrote you a birthday letter every year for years, but was never able to send you one. Just for fun she continued writing even after you went missing. She believed you were still alive out there somewhere. And growing up - every 4th of July, my cousins and I upon her request would draw pictures and as we got older write letters of what we were thankful for because of America. She made my mom do this when she grew up too. My grandmother passed a few years ago, but I still write the letters. And when you came back, I knew this year I had to give you these letters. And ask if you wanted to go grab a bite to eat or something. I just don’t want you to spend your birthday alone.”

Steve blinked away the tears that were about to fall.

“I’d love to. Maybe we could read these together. This is by far one of the greatest gifts I could ever even imagine getting. Let me get my jacket.”

They ate breakfast together and went back to his apartment to read the letters. She had another small box with her that had a cupcake in it. It was a humble gesture, but Steve was touched by this.

He didn’t have an extravagant birthday party his first year back. And that was ok. Now of course once the Avengers became his friends, they threw him huge birthday parties. He liked those - but they still didn’t mean as much to him as the small one he had with the girl and the letters. He still pulls them out and reads them every year on his birthday. And every year he gets a handful of new ones from that girl and her family.


End file.
